British Virgin Islands to introduce public register of companies’ owners

The government of the British Virgin Islands has officially committed to introducing public registers of the real ownership for companies incorporated in the territory.

The announcement comes after years of tax evasion and money laundering scandals in which shell companies incorporated in the British Virgin Islands regularly played a central role.

Andrew Fahie, the premier and minister of finance, told the House of Assembly last week that the BVI government would work “towards” public registers of beneficial ownership.

He said: “Subject to our reservations below on the format that the publicly accessible registers of beneficial ownership is to take. your government commits to work in collaboration with HMG (Her Majesty’s government) towards a publicly accessible register of beneficial ownership for companies.”

Mr Fahie said progress would be “in line with international standards and best practices as they develop globally” and that it would aspire to match the EU’s most recent anti-money laundering directive.

He said the undertaking was “subject to our reservations which include that the format must be in line with international standards and best practices as they develop globally and, at least, as implemented by EU member states … we will be informed at all times by global best practice at the time within a timeframe that we consider deliverable.”

Liz Sugg, the Foreign Office minister for the overseas territories and sustainable development, tweeted that the British Virgin Islands would be adopting public registers by 2023.

International anti-corruption NGO Global Witness has welcomed Fahie’s statement, The Guardian reports.

Ava Lee, Global Witness’s anti-corruption campaign leader, said: “Every time that there’s a global exposé on illicit finance, the BVI’s name comes up. The recent leak of files from FinCen [the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network] showed that at least 20% of the occasions when banks in the US raised suspicions of money laundering involved BVI companies, and half the companies exposed by the Panama Papers were registered there.”

Ms Lee said while the small print of the announcement would inevitably need inspection, the broader message acknowledging the inevitability of public registers was an important victory for the cause of transparency.